


Cops and Robbers

by DarkKnightDan



Category: Zootopia
Genre: Cliche, Gay, Love Story, M/M, OCs - Freeform, Original Characters - Freeform, Police, criminal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-25 09:19:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6188863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkKnightDan/pseuds/DarkKnightDan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sif never really wanted anything out of life other than his usual, crime, drugs, and freedom. Life can't always be what we want though. One day, Sif meets William, and his life will never be the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day One

Tundratown seemed colder than usual, and I certainly didn't enjoy having to wait around on a street corner while I waited for one of my contacts to make their way to where I was from downtown. I had wanted to have the meeting in downtown, but they had stubbornly insisted that we meet in Tundratown, what with the police practically crawling all over downtown at the moment, what with the peace day parade and such coming up. They wanted to make sure downtown looked its best for the visitors that would be flooding into Zootopia soon. 

I wasn't exactly the type to be participating in any kind of peace celebration though, not that I wasn't in favor of peace between predator and prey, but I had more important things to be doing.

I'm not exactly a law-abiding citizen, if that wasn't obvious already. I didn't do anything too crazy though, nothing that a predator could do to prey. No, I'm not that kind of guy. I'm the kind of guy who runs hustles, shoplifts, bootlegs, and does some other kinds of thieving. It's not exactly the most luxurious living, nor is it the easiest when you're working against a pretty extensive police force, but, in all honesty, it's fun. It's the kind of thing that I've been doing ever since I was fairly young, not out of necessity, but for fun. 

"Sif." I heard someone's voice from behind me and I glanced over my shoulder, stepping back, the coat that I wore blowing slightly as I turned to face the new arrival. A tiny smile split my snout when I saw that it was none other than my friend from downtown. He was a fairly tall tiger, taller than I was, and definitely more muscled.

"Raja." I greeted as I extended a hand to him. The tiger reached forward and shook my hand firmly, before reaching into the pitch black coat he wore and drawing out a small package. He handed it to me wordlessly before walking out of the alley, heading his own way as though he hadn't even spoken to me.

What was that package, you may ask? Well, it wasn't anything too crazy. I happen to have a few associates who enjoy the art of counter fitting. The problem is, the city started running some new bills that required my friends to get new plates for their presses. Being the good friend that I am, I decided that it would be best if I went out and got the plates for them. While it did cost me cashing in a favor from one of my old friend-enemies, I earned a favor from the guys who worked directly with Mr. Big, which gave me a big advantage when it came to anything in Zootopia.

I turned to go my own merry way, but suddenly found myself face to face with an officer of the ZPD coming down the sidewalk, cool intent on his features along with a hint of determination. It was certainly curious that the police chief had assigned a cheetah to Tundratown, but at the moment I was more concerned with the fact that I was up there on the police department's most wanted list. Nick Wilde was up there as well, though we were both below Mr. Big and his cronies. I had to hope that I was low enough on the list that this cop wouldn't recognize me.

Luck would, of course, do anything but swing in my favor. The cop looked up and his eyes locked with mine. His sapphire blue eyes instantly filled with recognition, and he reached for his radio. I took advantage of that split second of hesitation to turn and bolt down the alley that I had just come out of. It would have been useful if I knew a way back to my car that didn't involve the street that the cop had just been on, but when I heard him pelting down the alleyway behind me I realized that there were bigger things to worry about. 

I turned the corner of the alley on a dime and streaked down the street before side-stepping into an apartment building. This particular apartment building happened to be notorious for criminal activity, as the floor plans of the five story complex were highly complex, often turning into a maze like situation which led to most cops getting lost if they followed criminals into its insane structure.

Unfortunately, it seemed like this cop was either extremely lucky, or he happened to know more about the building than all of the other cops in Zootopia, because when I turned the final corner of what should've been the perfect evasion route, I smacked perfectly into the cheetah, sending the both of us to the floor in a tangle. Before I could react I felt a single handcuff being smacked into my wrist, and when I looked up I saw that the cheetah had secured the other handcuff around his own wrist. 

I groaned at the situation as the cop started talking in his obviously-rehearsed no-nonsense cop voice. Now, I loved his voice. In fact, I liked a lot of things about this guy. For one, his eyes were extremely fetching, and he definitely had a fine bit of definition under his thin fur. 

"Do you understand?" His deep, powerful voice asked as though I had been paying attention the entire time.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked genuinely, though this guy didn't seem to catch on to the fact that I had literally been paying zero attention to his whole speech. He pulled me to my feet and uncuffed his one hand, leaving me with a perfect window. I lurched with my shoulder, smacking it into the cheetah's chest before taking off, leaving him stunned and in the middle of the floor. 

By the time I got to my car the cheetah had just managed to catch up, barely. I jumped straight through the open window of my black sports car, something that was learned entirely through repeated practice by running from the cops, and turned on the ignition. Just as the Cheetah made it to the door of the car I put it into drive and sped off, tires screeching as I did so


	2. Ghost

Chapter 2

I obviously couldn't go to my place in Tundratown, not with that cop stalking around. On top of that, he had probably called in some backup to try and track me down, so I decided that I would head for the rain forest district. As I said before, working with Mr. Big had its advantages when it came to a life of crime. One of these advantages is that I had plenty of places where I could lay low if I had the law on my tail.

Cutting through the maintenance tunnels kept any police pursuit off of my tail, and let me mull over what to do when I got to my home away from home. I could just stay there for the rest of the night, get some sleep, that kind of boring thing, or, I could try and hit up one of the various clubs that dotted the canopies.

"Hide from cops like a smart person would.....or go have fun..." I pondered out loud, scratching my chin as I did so.

"Go and have fun, obviously." I decided as I pulled up to the tree that I had lived in off and on for the past year and a half. It wasn't big, wasn't really impressive in any discernible way, but it was home. I headed in, pulled off my coat, and threw the black fabric over the sofa in the main area of the living room.

While I was now set on going out and having a good time, the cops would have definitely told the citizens of most biomes to be on the lookout for me. They'd probably be focusing on the burrows and downtown though, the least and most densely populated places, respectively. They wouldn't come looking for a wolf in the rainforest. I still had to take precautions though, and so I had to change up my appearance a bit. 

In the bathroom were just the supplies that I needed in order to go about making myself disappear from Zootopia. Firstly, I popped out the sapphire blue contacts I was wearing and replaced them with a pair of emerald green ones, covering my naturally Amber colored optics. I then reached for the scissors that I kept in the drawer, cutting my normally long black fur to a shorter coat, one that seemed more becoming of an animal living in the rainforest district. I lamented at the fact that walking around in Tundratown would be a lot less comfortable, but it'd be harder for the cops to throw me in jail. 

I reached under the sink and grabbed some makeup, painting a scar onto my muzzle that came across my mouth in an angle that would suggest wounds from a fight with another predator, and removed the false end on my ear, letting the frayed end hang as it would naturally. 

Looking in the mirror, I looked less like the polished criminal that had walked into the tree house only half an hour before, and more like some low-down street rat that had seen one too many fights. Along with my change in appearance came a change in ID. I pulled anything with my name on it out of the wallet I had been keeping in my coat and replaced it with ones that read Ludwig Wolfgang. It wasn't exactly the most convincing of names, but the ID was legit and would throw of any cop who wasn't extremely skilled in examining these kinds of documents. 

"Time to hit the town." I cheerily announced to no one as I walked over to the closet in the bedroom, moving around the large king bed that dominated the room. I opened the closet to find that it only contained the clothes I had worn during my last job undercover for the boss.

There was a charcoal grey suit on a hanger, along with a white dress shirt. I thought about searching for the tie that I was certain I had put in the closet, but instead I just pulled out the clothes that I had stashed there. Once I got the suit on I walked over and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like a mafioso type character, though more toward the bottom rungs, not where I really was. I was satisfied with this appearance, and so I turned and walked out of the room. 

Thankfully, it wasn't raining as hard as it usually would when I came out into the canopy of the forest. It was just barely raining, the droplets making little rivulets that ran down my face. I managed to keep them away from the fake scar on my muzzle though, as I was afraid that the makeup would smear and draw attention. Besides that though, everything was going fine as I walked across the bridge back to where my car was parked. As an afterthought, I walked around to the back of my car and opened the trunk, looking around in the bag of plates for one that I hadn't used recently. When I found one, I pulled the license plate that had been on the car off and replaced it with the new one. 

Now satisfied that I was more or less invisible to the not-so-watchful eye of the Zootopia police department, I hopped into the driver's seat and turned the car on. Before leaving, I plugged in my iPod and scrolled through the various bands that dotted my library. There was Gazelle, Growls and Roses, Of Mice and Meerkats, and some other bands that I tended to listen to kind of off and on. 

I decided on Growls and Roses, letting their hit "Welcome to the Jungle" blast over my sound system as I made my way to the club. It was strange though, I got this feeling that this night would definitely be more interesting than I had initially imagined.


	3. Will

Chapter 3

The Canopy, the biggest club in the Rainforest district, was densely populated, as usual. I parked a good distance away and made my way up to the club, the sound of the loud bass from the music emanating through the walls and already hitting my sensitive ears full force. 

I never really understood why I went to clubs. For one thing, the music was usually horrible, and left me with a headache if I stayed in its proximity too long. On top of that, I wasn't exactly looking to check anyone out. Mating wasn't in my top priority in life. Maybe it was just the fact that I was able to get lost in a sea of faces, and sometimes I would actually meet someone worth talking to. 

With that rationalization in mind, I opened the doors of the club and stepped into the blast wave of sound that immediately greeted me upon my opening of the door. I gritted my teeth as I walked through, closing the door behind me as I did so. All sorts of animals were milling about, prey, predators, all different species. The entire club had an odd scent, like someone had thrown all the various perfumes and colognes these people were wearing into a giant vat and stirred them all up together. It wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't the kind of scent that I found appealing. 

After examining the crowded dance floor and booths for a few moments I decided that my best bet of enjoying myself would be to go to the bar, and so I did just that. I hopped up into one of the high chairs that were gathered around the bar, wincing as some of the coarse bark rubbed me the wrong way. I ignored that though, and leant forward onto the countertop, examining the various bottles that were behind the counter. 

"Hey, barkeep." I called over the noise of the music, and a panther walked over from where he had been apparently taking inventory, as well as conversing with a pair of cheetahs who had made themselves a place at the bar.

"What can I get for ya?" He asked as he leant on the counter in a manner similar to mine, his thin lips parting into a genuine welcoming smile.

"Whiskey, on the rocks, please." I requested, and the panther nodded, turning his back as he grabbed a bottle and a glass, filling the glass with ice and turning back to me as he poured the whiskey into the glass. He set the bottle down in front of me.

"So, what brings you here tonight, Sif?" He asked in a teasing tone, and I groaned. 

"Oh come on Mathias, I spent like an hour changing things up, am I really that obvious?" My friend chuckled in response as I threw back my shot, which he instantly filled up again.

"Well, you're not obvious to any cops, if that's what you're asking. Two of them just walked in, looked at you, and went on their merry way. Thing is, I've seen you in all of your different iterations. This one is Ludwig, right?" I rolled my eyes but nodded in response. 

"Well, Ludwig, you let me know if you want anything else. I'll just leave the bottle here." Mathias said before walking down the bar to talk with some other customers who had sat down while we were conversing. 

I glanced around to try and find the cops that Mathias had mentioned, but couldn't spot any familiar faces in the crowd. It certainly didn't help that the light were always changing colors, casting different shadows over people's faces and all of that, but even when the light was at its brightest I couldn't recognize any cops who I had seen on my tail before. 

"Hey, is this seat taken?" I heard someone ask from beside me and I turned to look at the voice and was shocked by who I found. Standing no more than a foot away from me, with a dumb smile on his face that didn't change as he looked me over, was the cop who had tried to arrest me earlier that day. 

Now, I was definitely in a conundrum. I could either hastily get up and leave, which would be extremely suspicious, tell him that a friend was coming who never would, also suspicious, or let him sit down and play it cool since he obviously didn't recognize me. 

"Nah, you're fine." I offered as calmly as possible, moving the seat out to allow the guy to take a seat. When he did so I grabbed the bottle that Mathias had left me, offering it to the cheetah, who chuckled and shook his head.

"Sorry, but no, I don't drink hard liquor too often." The cop waved down Mathias and asked him for a draft of Guinness, which my friend hastily sat down on the bar in front of the officer.

"Quick as always, thanks Mathias." The cop nodded to my friend, who returned his usual kind smile.

"Anything for you, Will." The panther replied as he stepped away. 

"So, Will, huh?" I asked as I took a drink of my whiskey, setting the glass back down on the bar when it was empty. The liquor burned my tongue and set my nose on fire, but it was a welcome burn with the current situation that I was in. 

"William, actually. Clawhauser. And you are?" The cheetah asked as he took a drink of his beer. I tried to gauge how old he was. I mean, he obviously wasn't too old, his coat looked lustrous and sleek, unlike some of the older cheetah's I'd met in my lifetime. He also had a youthful radiance about him. I estimated that he was about my age, though I couldn't really be sure. 

"Ludwig, Ludwig Wolfgang." I spat out the alias in the most honest manner that I could. William laughed.

"Well, it looks like we both have the same stereotypical names. Anyway, what're you doing here by yourself? This doesn't seem like the kind of place someone would often come to alone."

"I could ask you the same question." I responded plainly, causing William to shrug. 

"I come here to drink most of the time, but sometimes it's fun to talk to somebody who doesn't wear the badge, you know?" Oh buddy, if only YOU knew.

"So you're a cop?" I asked as I took another drink, doing my best to feign ignorance.

"Yeah, been on the force for two years. What do you do?" I instantly replied with the first thing that came to mind.

"I work at a restaurant in downtown, The Golden Claw, you heard of it?" William nodded.

"Yeah, I've heard of it. Never been there before though, tad bit too expensive for my taste. I don't think you're just a busboy though, you look more like a fighter than a waiter." 

"Eh, I do a bit of fighting on the side for some extra cash." I acknowledged and William raised a brow at me.

"You realize you just told that to a cop, right?" I chuckled to myself. I had just told the cop I was in a fight club, but it wasn't like there were dozens that I could offer up to him in exchange for his silence.

"Well, I'm not the smartest." I replied as I took another drink, filling my glass for the third time now. William chuckled to himself as well, shaking his head slowly.

"I'm not going to do anything about it though, right now I'm more focused on finding this wolf who's on the wanted list. Name's Sif Howlett, would you happen to know him?"

"That's a bit racist, Officer. Just because I'm a wolf doesn't mean that I know all of the wolves in Zootopia." Will shrugged in response.

"Had to try." He explained as he leant back in his seat, draining what remained of his beer.

"Want to dance?" He asked as he set his glass down, causing me to nearly spit the whiskey that was currently in my mouth all over the counter. After I managed to force it down I coughed in an effort to clear my throat. 

"Like, together?" I asked and Will nodded, his tail swishing slowly behind him. I noted that my own tail was wagging, but I didn't understand why. 

"Well, uh....sure." I replied as Will got up from his seat, turning and walking into the crowd on the dance floor. I followed behind, my hands in my pockets as I followed the pale yellow head that remained at my eye level through the crowd.

Will stopped after making his way pretty much into the center of the dance floor, smiling as he saw me trying to navigate through the crowd of smaller creatures scattered about the floor. In the meantime, he started to move in time to the beat. 

I was completely and utterly embarrassed at this point. First off, I usually would have never been caught dead in the middle of a dance floor. Secondly, I was dancing with a cop, and one who appeared to not care if anyone looked at his dancing at that. 

I did my best to mimic William's dancing, though by the goofy smile on his face I could tell that I was giving him quite the show. 

"You're too tense." Will offered as he continued his intricate moves.

"I don't dance." I insisted as I continued this failure of a mimicry.

"Could've fooled me." The cheetah teased as the song ended. Then, while Will was distracted, I darted back over to the bar. Behind the counter, Mathias seemed to be trying his best not to laugh.

"Shut up." I shot at him as my cheeks burnt red under my fur. I couldn't believe that I had allowed myself to be pulled into the middle of a club by a cop.

"Here comes your man." Mathias said as he went back to whatever it was he had been doing before I had made my way over. 

"Hey there." Will greeted as he sat down and I buried my face in my arms, trying to hide my obvious embarrassment. 

"Sorry about dragging you out there, you seemed like the type who enjoyed dancing." While I tried to wrap my brain around what that was supposed to me, and think of a reply, I looked over at Will. 

Surprisingly, he didn't seem like he was teasing me now. He had a seriously apologetic look on his face, and was even holding out a glass filled with Amber liquid. Wordlessly, I took the shot glass and knocked it back before sitting up.

"It's not your fault." I responded late to his apology. "While I don't exactly see what you mean by me being 'the dancing type' I'm not going to hold it against you." Will chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. 

"Well, I kind of need to head out. It's been a long day, but uh, I was wondering if you'd like to meet up sometime." My eyes darted to Mathias, who was doing his best not to collapse laughing at this point, before moving back to Will.

Alright, a quick tidbit about me. I am not gay. I'm actually asexual. However, I am Biromantic, at least from what I know. So, I decided I would give Will a chance.

"Uh, sure." I grabbed a napkin and pulled a pen from my pocket, hastily scribbling my phone number, one of my many numbers anyway, on it and handing it to the cop, who grin and tucked the piece of paper into his pocket.

"Awesome, I'll text you later this week. Sorry if it's at an odd hour though, sometimes I'm working night shifts and stuff."

"No worries." I responded with a hint of a smile. Will just returned my smile before turning and walking out of the club.

Dear Mother Nature, what have I done?


	4. The Advance

Chapter 4

My foot tapped out some nonsensical rhythm as I sat at a table in downtown Zootopia. Thankfully for my nerves, I had managed to find a table outside at one of my favorite restaurants, Emma's. 

On one hand, I was happy that I had been able to find a table at my favorite restaurant. On the other hand, I was extremely nervous, for two reason. Number one, I, a wanted criminal, was meeting up with a cop in order to keep up my cover. Number two, the cop that I was meeting was actually pretty hot. On top of that, after texting for a couple days I learned that Will and I had some similar interests. For one, we both loved Italian food, which was obvious by his ready agreement to eat at one of the best Italian places in Zootopia. Secondly, we both had a thing for classic rock music like Growls and Roses. We hadn't talked about much besides that, Will had wanted to really get to know me over dinner, which obviously led to the arrangement I currently found myself in.

"Why did I let him talk me into this?" I wondered out loud as I removed the sunglasses I had been wearing. I glanced down at my clothes, checking them for any imperfections. The jeans I was wearing had some tears in them, but I didn't care about that. I was more concerned with stains or anything like that. Thankfully, my jeans and black v-neck were immaculate. 

See, I may be the type of person who didn't go on dates often, but all that honestly did was make me more nervous about the dates that I did go on. Out of the handful of dates that I had been on in my life, only an extremely small handful of them had gone well. Two of my three relationships had ended on decent terms, the other two had ended in horrible conditions. 

Due to my reflections on my past relationships, I didn't notice that William had entered the restaurant, and made his way directly behind me.

"Hey Ludwig." I heard his voice in my ear and I jumped, almost upturning the table that I had been sitting at. I heard Will burst out laughing behind me, and at the same instant I spun to face him, finding that the other man was now sitting on the ground as he laughed. I shot him a glare that quickly turned to a hint of a smile when he flashed me an apologetic grin.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." He said as he stood up, now moving to stand beside me, continuing to smile as he did so. After a moment of looking up at Will I glanced over at the chair across from me.

"So, you going to-uh- take a seat?" I asked and Will glanced over at the chair before shrugging.

"Sure." He conceded and moved the chair out, sitting down across from me, still smiling. I was so glad that he hadn't gone overboard with his clothes, wearing about the same kind of clothes as I did. The only difference is that his jeans didn't have tears in them, and that he was wearing a crimson t-shirt. 

"You're looking nice." Will commented and I glanced up from the menu I had been looking at. For a moment, I struggled with finding words. Out of all the people I'd been on dates with, none of them had just openly complimented my appearance, they were more about talking through some more...interesting things, like my life of crime. Thing is, I kind of liked that I'd be able to talk with Will about something other than my life of crime. 

"So are you." I said after a moment of hesitation, reaching to take a drink of the water that had been set out before me a few minutes before Will had arrived. 

"Did you have to wait long? I got caught in traffic on my way through Sahara Square." 

"Oh yeah, I was here for like the past five or six hours, just sitting around." I replied with a hint of sarcasm, but a smile that indicated that I was joking. 

"Oh, well I'll make sure to leave about seven hours early next time, so you can keep me waiting." Will snickered as our waiter came back around. He ordered water just like I did, and when the tall gazelle that was serving us left Will leant back in his chair.

"So, what's your favorite color?" He asked, and I glanced up from the menu in my hands, raising a brow at the sudden question. 

"Are we really doing this?" I asked and Will raised a brow in a similar expression to my own. 

"Doing what?"

"The cliche first date conversation. Come on now Will, I know that we're both a lot more interesting than that. I'm sure that you want to know what kind of fights that I get into, and I want to know all about your career as a police officer. Mainly all of the cases that you've been working on."

"Well, I can't tell you everything. That's a against department policy."

"Well tell me what you can, and I'll tell you about my fights." I said with a smile, crossing my arms over my chest as I leant back in the chair. Will sighed, his eyes coming down to the table as he did so.

"Well, the thing is, I've only worked two cases in my career. One of them was this guy who was stealing stuff from Sahara Square, can't exactly tell you what, and I ended up catching him. I wasn't supposed to be on a case for awhile since that was just a week or so ago, but then I ran into an A-lister."

"A-lister?" I questioned, feigning ignorance as to what exactly he was talking about.

"It's what we call criminals who are high on the wanted list, and I ran into one of the highest ones. I was in Tundratown, the day that I met you. Suddenly, out of nowhere, this wolf walks out of an alleyway. Now, the fact that he was a wolf didn't draw my attention, it was the fact that he was a big thief in Tundratown. He's also tied to the organized crime organization ran by a guy named Mr. Big. So, I go to chase after the guy, and I catch him. Unfortunately, before I could secure him he slipped away, so I didn't get to cuff him. I reported the incident to the chief and he told me to take the rest of the day off. He said he didn't want me out on the street in uniform while I could be a target for some crime bosses."

"So that's when you came to the Canopy I'm guessing?"

"Well, I wasn't just going to sit around in my apartment and do nothing all night. I'm not that kind of animal, now I believe we had a deal Luddy." Luddy? That was certainly a new one, but I wasn't going to hold out on Will, considering I had promised him some explanation of my fights. It just took me a minute to think of which fight club I wanted to throw under the bus, which one I made the least money from. 

"So, there's this one place in Sahara Square, it's right off the market, the really big one, y'know?" Will nodded in response, as though he knew exactly of the place I was talking about.

"Alright, so there's this little hole in the wall dive, nothing big, nothing attractive. You might see a few animals drifting in and out of there at different times of the day, but a lot of us come in there fairly late at night. Around like one in the morning the club opens, and that's when it gets fun."

"How often do you fight?" Will asked, leaning forward and looking at me over folded hands.

"Depends on the week, sometimes twice, sometimes more. Never less than twice though. I'm a very.....aggressive individual." I murmured the last part and Will chuckled.

"So uh, how'd you get that scar here?" He asked, tapping the area of my muzzle where I had drawn on a scar. 

"Well, I don't particularly enjoy fighting polar bears, let's just say that. I tend to try and dance around them, fight a little bit more evasively, but this guy wasn't having any of it. He grabbed me like he was out for my head, and actually tried to rake his claws down my face. I managed to lean back quick enough to save my eyes though, and he just managed to cut my muzzle, as you can see."

"Well, he did a bit of damage to a very handsome face, though he didn't change the overall aesthetic. In fact, I think that scar looks really good with your whole missing ear thing." Will commented, flicking his ear to accentuate his last point. I rolled my eyes, but smile at his compliment.

"Well, maybe you should get roughed up a little bit, get you some scars. I'm sure all the criminals would be intimidated." I replied before taking a drink of my water.

"Is that an offer?" Will questioned and I nearly spit my water out. Damn, this cheetah was assertive, and part of me liked it. 

"It could be." I replied in a husky tone which caused Will to chuckle. 

"I may take you up on that." He said as the waitress came back around to get our orders. I ordered some pasta, my usual, and Will actually just mimicked my order. 

"As you were saying?" I asked as I leant back in my chair. Maybe this guy wasn't as into a relationship as I hoped, maybe he was more about hooking up. While I didn't particularly enjoy that either, I didn't enjoy the idea of being in a committed relationship with a cop. 

"As I was saying, I may take you up on that, after a few more dates, if there are any more." Well then, it seemed as though he'd succeeded in backing me into a corner.

I may have been a fighter for the past decade of life, but this guy was certainly the best opponent I had ever faced.


	5. Sharks

Chapter 5

"Alright, so how exactly do I do this?" Will asked as he leaned over the table.

"Just aim and shoot, just like I showed you." I replied as I watched him plainly. 

With a satisfying crack, Will drove his cue into the ball, sending it careening toward the pyramid of spheres that had been assembled before the game had begun.

Taking a cop to a dive to gamble, great idea, right? Thankfully, the guy across the table had agreed to let me take some of the more difficult shots for Will, considering that he'd never played pool before.

Will's break was surprisingly good, he pocketed a solid and actually set himself up for another shot rather nicely.

"Remember, you have to call your pocket." I said as Will stepped around the table to line up his shot. 

"What's that one called?" He asked, pointing to the one that he was obviously aiming for.

"You just need to make sure he knows that's the one." I replied as I moved to stand behind him, out of the way of his cue. I saw Will's tongue briefly extend from his lips as he lined up his shot and, with another crack, he sent the ball into the pocket he had called. Unfortunately, he'd put too much power on the cue ball and it followed right behind.

"Scratch." I informed Will and he turned, raising a brow at me as he did so. Well, it looks like I didn't explain everything to him.

"It means that he gets the cue ball wherever he wants, no worries though, you'll get it back." I informed Will as the fox he was playing lined up his shot. After a few minutes of waiting as he assessed the table I groaned.

"Come on Nick, you always take too long when you get the ball in hand." Nick Wilde, one of my better friends in the criminal world, held a finger up to me.

"It's called figuring out how to win your buddy's money." He replied, thankfully not using my name as he did so. 

How had I convinced Will not to arrest Nick Wilde the moment that we walked into the dive, you may ask? Well, for one, Will wasn't in uniform, and two, he was surrounded by a lot more criminals than just Nick Wilde. So, Will had decided to act like he didn't know who the fox was for the entirety of our time gambling.

Soon enough, Nick set the ball on the table and took his shot after calling out two separate balls in two separate pockets. From where I had my arm around Will's shoulders I could feel him scoff, but the small smirk that I observed on his features was wiped away when Nick pulled off the shot perfectly.

It may not have been the best idea to have Will going up against one of the best hustlers in the business, but I figured it would be a good learning experience for the rookie cop. We vagabonds aren't the time to play nice, and we almost never play fair. 

I set my cue down and leant against the table as Nick more or less cleaned up the table, until he missed one shot and groaned. 

"Well, that's Lady Luck for you." He commented as Will went to line up a shot. I could see that the other man was visibly shaking and I raised a brow before putting my hand on his shoulder. 

"What's wrong?" I asked and Will straightened up, turned to me, and took a deep breath. 

"I have never, ever lost in something like this before. I have to pocket five and he only has to pocket one." He whispered and I smiled to myself. So, Will was one of those always have to win types of kids. I could appreciate that. 

"Well, then you go and you pocket those five, and you don't let Nick have another shot. Remember, you have to pocket the eight ball after that too." I added and Will sighed, but nodded before turning back to the table. 

The younger man leant back across the table and lined up his first shot, calling it out and hitting it perfectly. I smiled to myself, knowing that sinking even one shot would give him a boost of confidence.

What I didn't expect, however, is for Will to come back on Nick, who was one of the best pool sharks in all of Zootopia.

"What a shame." Nick mused as he leant on his cue, shaking his head as he glanced down at the now-empty table.

"I think I'll be going now." He said as he put his stick up and turned to walk out of the bar. Excusing myself for a minute, I went to follow Nick. He was oddly calm about this entire situation.

"Nick." I called once I'd managed to catch up with him just outside the back door of the dive. He raised a brow and turned to face me, hands in his pockets.

"What's up?" He responded, leaning back slightly in his usual relaxed stature.

"How much do I need to pay you for throwing that game?" I asked and Nick chuckled, bending over slightly as a grin split his features. 

"Oh Sif, you overestimate me. I didn't throw the game, I actually missed my shot. If anything, your little boyfriend in there came back on me. You should go congratulate him." And with that, Nick turned and went on his way down the alley. I was stunned by his admittance, to the best of my knowledge Nick never missed a shot. 

When I entered back into the bar Will was leaning on his cue, standing next to the table with Nick's money in hand, a smile on his face.

"Don't look so smug there, hotshot. You're buying drinks." I smirked and Will chuckled.

"Well, I guess we can call it paying you back for dinner the other day. I just have one condition." I arched a brow at this hanging statement. I was intrigued, but also nervous. What exactly could he want?

"You have to tell me who you really are." He asserted with a smirk and I felt my face drop.

How much did he know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter. It's late and I actually just got back from seeing Zootopia again. I hope to put up one more chapter tonight, then most likely another tomorrow.


	6. MIA

Chapter 6

As Will walked back to our table I twirled my thumbs around each other. He hadn't said anything further about what he knew before he's gone to the bar to get our drinks. When he slid my drink across the table to me I stopped it before it could tip off the edge, and glanced up to see Will's set face. He didn't seem to be his usual joking self, he looked more like the cop I had run into a few weeks ago. 

"So, what do you know?" I asked with a smirk, trying to get out of telling him anything that I could. I could still myself being compelled to lie. 

"Well, I know that you have more than one ID. I also know that you have a fake badge in your wallet." I bit my lip, why had I left my wallet out where Will could see? Well, I certainly hadn't expected him to look through it, but it'd still been a stupid move on my part. 

Now I was faced with a touch decision. I could either tell Will one lie which could land me in jail, or tell him another that could bring about a whole shitstorm that I didn't want to go down. 

"What do you have to say for yourself?" He asked sternly, and I noticed that his expression had become even more serious. He looked like he was going to reach across the table and punch me if I didn't give him the answer he was looking for. 

Now, it looks like I was going to literally have to dig myself out of a grave. 

"That badge isn't fake." I confessed to Will and he cocked a brow at me. 

"What do you mean the badge isn't fake? I've certainly never heard of an Officer Lowell." I sighed, running my fingers through the fur on my head as I did so. 

"Well, that's because I'm supposed to be dead." I admitted and Will's brows shot up.

"Dead? What do you mean dead?"

"I mean that I'm one of the few officers that the ZPD has had go missing and never found." 

"How'd you manage that? And why would you leave the force?" Ill have to admit, that question opened up a whole new avenue for me. Sure, it was an avenue of lies, but it would save my tail in the lone run. 

"Look. I was assigned to Tundratown, and put undercover. I was supposed to get into Mr. Big's favor, and get enough information to bring him down. It started out well, for the first few months of my assignment everything seemed to be going perfectly, then after nearly a year of undercover work Mr. Big figured me out. Fortunately, I hadn't reported anything yet. He told me that if I erased all of the data I had, if I destroyed the evidence, then he would let me live. In addition, if he ever heard that I said anything to the police, then I would be killed." I leant back in my chair then, hoping that Will could buy my lies. The thing was, it wasn't all lies.

My original name was Sif Lowell, and I was assigned by the ZPD to infiltrate Mr. Big's family at a fairly young age, fresh out of the academy. Chief Bogo figured that it would be easier for them to trust me since I was younger. I'd also already lost the top part of my ear, which made me look tougher than some of the other officers. 

I had been with Mr. Big for about a year, but it's at that time that I threw away all of the evidence. Then, I told Mr. Big that I was being watched by the cops, that I had seen them multiple times during my usual skulking around Tundratown. He responded by giving me a new name, and essentially erasing me from Zootopia. To the best of my knowledge, the only thing that remained of me in Zootopia was the small monument in the police station that they'd erected after searching and finding no trace. 

I'd gotten color contacts, making them blue instead of Amber. I covered up the white streaks in my fur and made them entirely black. I capped the upper half of my ear so that it looked as though I'd never lost that part. Everything but my first name was changed, and I was left a new man, free to do what I wanted. 

"But that must have been a few years ago. You can talk to the chief now, after all, Mr. Big must think that you're dead." I scoffed, that would be a little hard for him to think, considering that I had been at his mansion less than a week ago to talk with him about a trade deal in Sahara Square.

"Look, Will, Mr. Big knows who I am. He knows I'm alive, he covered me up so that the cops couldn't find me, and set me up with the IDs. He keeps track of everything I do, and would know that I crossed him the second that I said anything. Now, here's the deal. Either you go your own way, do your own thing, and be safe. Or, you sit here with me and we wait for a couple of polar bears to give us both scars nastier than the ones I already have." Inside, I was smirking. Surely, this young cop would want to get out while he could, and forget about me. He'd be able to live his life. Now, that wasn't exactly what I wanted. I liked Will, he was a really nice guy, but he'd gotten himself in too deep. It was time for this ship to shove off. 

"Well, if those are my only options, then I guess I'm staying." Will shocked me by saying before he downed his beer. When he finished the glass he offered his hand to me across the table.

"I'm with you, Officer Lowell. You may not be the exact same person that I first met, but that's only in name. If anything, your bravery is inspiring." Well, it looks like I'd gotten myself into a difficult situation, now that this kid was into helping me.

"And I actually want to ask you something." Will added, which caused my brows to shoot up.

"I would like you to be my boyfriend."


	7. Damaged

Chapter 7

Unfortunately, it seemed like I was all too right about Mr. Big being right on my tail, monitoring everything I said. Before I could even respond to Will, a polar bear had crashed into me, sending me flying into the wall with a large spike of pain.

"Ludwig!" Will exclaimed as another polar bear came up behind the cheetah and, with a flick of his hand, sent Will flying across the room as well.

"Woah, Dusty is that you?" I asked before the polar bear pressed his forearm further into my neck, almost completely cutting off my airway.

"Alright, not too pleased to see me." I rasped, the whole time trying to think through what exactly I could do in order to get out of this situation. My eyes were slowly getting cloudy, darkness peeking at the edges of my vision. 

Then, I was on the ground inhaling deep breaths of air. Before I could comprehend what was happening I felt someone pull me up from the ground. I was guided out of the bar and toward my car, the whole time trying to regain complete sense.

The door of my car was opened and I was hastily shoved into the passenger seat. When I looked to the driver's seat Will was sitting there, my keys in hand, looking over his shoulder as he started the car.

"Shit shit shit." He murmured as he floored it, taking off down the street accompanied by a squeal of tires and a lingering scent of burning rubber. 

"Where are they?" I asked as I glanced over my shoulder, out the rear view window. At that point, I wish I hadn't asked. There was a black luxury car almost identical to mine right on our tail.

"Looks like you were right about Mr. Big." Will commented as he took a sharp turn, sending me flying into the window. My vision blurred on impact and I cursed again.

"Sorry. Just try to keep your head down and we'll be at the station before you know it." 

"Are you insane? We can't go to the police station!" I exclaimed and Will have me a look like I had two heads sitting on my shoulders. 

"Well, where else do you want us to go?" He shot back. Unfortunately, he had me licked there. Going to either of my places would definitely lead to me getting murdered by Mr. Big, and I didn't exactly feel like dragging Will all the way out to the Burrows, where I had a safe house. 

"Hurry up then." I said as I opened the glove box, pulling out a tranquilizer gun that I'd been given by Mr. Big.

"What are you going to do with that?" 

"What do you think I'm going to do?" I retorted as I loaded the gun, opening the window as I did. "I'm going to try and buy us some time." I poked my head out of the window and leveled the barrel directly at the driver's seat of the pursuing car.

One, two shots, and then I had to duck back inside of the car to avoid the return fire that was hailed our way. Unfortunately, the polar bears weren't using tranquilizers. 

When I poked my body back out the window to try and hit one of the Bears I felt a bullet pierce my chest, just above my stomach. I gasped loudly at the pain that raced through all of my nerves, dropping my tranq gun as I slid back into my seat. I reached up and pressed my paw to the wound, removing it briefly to discover that it had been entirely coated with blood already.

"Will." I said loudly, with a quaver in my voice that I didn't remember having at any point before that. 

"Trying to drive here." He sounded like he was about to make a snide comment, but then his gaze fell upon the wound I was holding my paw up to.

"Hold on." He insisted as he pressed his foot to the gas, pulling my phone out of my pocket as he did so. At this point, I was too out of it to question what he was doing, or to protest the fact that he had taken my phone.

Luckily for Will, there was no lock on my phone, and moments after he'd grabbed my phone I could hear him yelling above the noise of the gunfire that would occasionally ring through the window I had left open.

Every nerve in my body was screaming, my heart was pumping rapidly, definitely not aiding in the amount of blood that was pulsing from my wound as every second went by. Things were starting to get hazy, and I couldn't hold the blood in anymore with my paws.

Will seemed to notice my impending unconsciousness, because he kept urging me to hold on just a little bit longer. He insisted that everything would be alright, that I wasn't going to bleed out now. Part of me believed him, but I'm pretty sure that part of me was currently preoccupied with the fact that I was indeed bleeding out all over the interior of my car. 

"I need to rest." I murmured as I felt my eyes drift close, just as the car screeched to a halt. Moments later, there was plenty of yelling and I felt myself being removed from the car by arms significantly larger than my own, and Will's. 

Somewhere, amidst that confusion, I could hear Will. He was saying something that I couldn't understand. In fact, everything being said blurred together into a muddled mess that sounded more or less like a foreign language to me.

Just as everything faded into black I felt a familiar pair of paws holding my face, Will's paws.   
**

When I woke up, it was in the last place I would have expected to be doing so. For one, after taking that bullet I had expected to never wake up, or have some kind of out of body experience in a morgue. I had certainly not expected to be waking up in a well furnished hospital room. In addition to that, Will was sitting next to my bed, asleep. Another officer sat across from the door in uniform, watching the door with determined intent.

I tried to speak, but it came out in a mumble instead. The guard, a tiger, glanced over at me before grabbing his radio and saying something that I couldn't understand. 

The guy didn't speak to me, nor did he acknowledge my existence the whole time that we sat there. He didn't even wake Will up or let a nurse know that I was awake.

My first contact with the police force on civil grounds was, ironically, with the last person whom I had spoken with before my "death." Chief Bogo entered the room silently, looking me over as though I were from strange creature from a different land.

"Don't stare like that, you'll make me blush." I managed to rasp out through my dry lips. 

"Well, it's not exactly every day that I see a ghost." Bogo responded in his deep voice, making his way over to me as he did so. 

"Are we doing interrogations right now? I figured that would wait until I could give you decent answers." I said as Bogo crossed his arms over his chest.

"We aren't interrogating you Lowell, we're trying to figure out how in the world it is that you're alive. After all, someone doesn't just go missing for five years and pop up out of nowhere."

"Why don't you talk to spot over here, I'm sure he'll be able to tell you most of it." I said as I nodded toward Will. 

"I'm not going to ask him because he isn't the one who's supposed to have been dead. I want you to tell me what happened, and how you're alive." With an internal groan, I recited the exact same story to Bogo that I had to Will. Well, I didn't explain all of it, just the parts that Bogo didn't know. 

"I'll be damned." He murmured, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, I'll call up the mayor and have him announce that you're alive, when you're feeling up to it of course. Until then, we'll have a guard posted at your door at all hours of the day." 

"Technically, you'll have two." I directed my gaze towards Will as I spoke, causing Bogo to roll his eyes.

"Officer Clawhauser can only stay here for a few more hours. He's needed on assignments, so if you want to talk with him, I suggest you wake him up." Bogo turned to leave then, gesturing for the officer guarding me to step outside while Will and I talked. 

The ball was in my court now. I could either wake Will up and respond to his question, or run out the time and hope he would forget. After a moment of deliberation, I sighed and reached over to shake the cheetah awake. 

I might as well just do it.


End file.
